Gay Candidate Beaten, Dragged and Burned: FBI Investigation?

Marco McMillian's distinction as perhaps the first viable openly gay candidate for public office in Mississippi and the condition of his body raise questions about whether his death was a federal hate crime. One politician from his state wants the FBI to look into it.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said on Wednesday that he wants the FBI to get involved in an investigation of the death of Marco McMillian, who was a candidate for mayor in Clarksdale. "If another set of eyes looking at it would provide additional information, I think it would be helpful to the McMillian family," Thompson told the Associated Press.

McMillian's campaign described him as one of the first viable openly gay candidates for public office in Mississippi. That distinction naturally raises questions about whether his sexual orientation and high profile could have motivated his murder.

Making the case even more disturbing is his family's description of the condition of how he was killed: "His body was found on Wednesday, February 26, 2013, beaten, dragged and burned (set afire)," they said in a statement released March 4.

While Mississippi's hate-crime law covers acts of violence motivated by a victim's race, federal hate-crime laws would address those motivated by sexual orientation.